Why The Waterfront is like Dawson’s Creek for Adults

So here’s the thing: five minutes into The Waterfront on Netflix, I was already getting major Dawson’s Creek deja vu. The small-town secrets, the messy relationships, the brooding boy with reckless charm? It was all screaming Capeside energy. Then I found out it’s created by Kevin Williamson and suddenly it all made sense. My gut reaction was right! The Waterfront is like Dawson’s Creek for adults.

This isn’t just another crime family drama. It’s Dawson’s Creek… if Dawson’s mom ran a shady seafood empire with drug smuggling on the side and Pacey Witter grew up into Cane Buckley, morally gray with felony-level charm. Are you ready to take this trip down millennial nostalgia lane with me and find a new show to watch?

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What Are These Shows Even About?

Let’s set the stage.

Dawson’s Creek (1998–2003): A teen drama set in the small coastal town of Capeside, Massachusetts, following Dawson, Joey, Pacey, and Jen as they wrestle with first love, heartbreak, identity, and the kind of intense late-night conversations that only teenagers can have. At its heart? A small-town bubble where everyone knows your secrets, and every friendship feels like life or death.

The Waterfront (2025– ): Netflix’s latest crime family drama, set in the fictional fishing town of Havenport, North Carolina. The Buckleys are a dynasty on the edge of collapse: Harlan (the patriarch just back from illness), Belle (the sharp, ruthless matriarch), Cane (reckless son with something to prove), and Bree (daughter clawing her way back from addiction). What starts as a family trying to save their business quickly spirals into smuggling, betrayals, and morally gray choices.

Both shows revolve around the same bones: a tight-knit coastal town, families under pressure, and secrets that refuse to stay buried. One is about teens navigating who they’ll become, the other about adults reckoning with who they already are.

Kevin Williamson’s Signature DNA

Here’s the kicker: both shows come from the same creative mind: Kevin Williamson. He’s the guy behind Dawson’s Creek, Scream, The Vampire Diaries, and now The Waterfront. And the reason his work always hits? He’s not just making this stuff up, he’s mining his own life.

With Dawson’s Creek, Dawson was basically Kevin. He grew up in a small coastal town in North Carolina, obsessed with movies, and even had his own “Joey” climbing in through his bedroom window. Capeside was his teenage world, just dramatized for WB primetime.

With The Waterfront, he’s drawing from a much darker family chapter. When the fishing industry collapsed in the ’80s, Williamson’s dad turned to smuggling to make ends meet. Kevin waited until after his father’s passing to tell that story, reworking it into Havenport and the Buckley family.

So in a way, The Waterfront is Dawson’s Creek’s grown-up shadow. Same creator, same coastal backdrop, same intimate storytelling, but this time the stakes aren’t “who will Joey pick?” It’s “what will you sacrifice to keep your family alive?”

The Pacey Factor (aka Why Cane Buckley Feels Familiar)

Let’s talk character vibes. Cane Buckley? Total Pacey Witter energy. Jake Weary channels the same slouchy, reckless charm Joshua Jackson gave us in the ’90s, equal parts chaos and vulnerability.

Both are the family screw-ups, constantly underestimated, always trying to prove themselves. Both have a knack for diving headfirst into messy, complicated relationships that you know are a bad idea, but you can’t stop watching. And underneath the drama, both are the emotional heartbeat of their shows, the ones you root for, even when they’re spiraling.

Basically: if you were Team Pacey back in Capeside, you’re going to find yourself Team Cane in Havenport.

We even have our own Pacey/Joey romance here. Cane used to date Jenna back in high school. Now she’s back in town, they’re both married, but still incredibly attracted to each other. Even Belle, the matriarch, has shades of Gail Leery except sharper, meaner, and way more willing to burn down everything to save her family’s legacy.

Why The Waterfront Is Dawson’s Creek for Adults

If Dawson’s Creek was about first love and identity crises, The Waterfront Netflix is about survival, legacy, and how far you’ll go for family. It’s like watching your favorite teen drama characters age into adulthood and start making really bad choices.

It scratches two itches at once:

• Nostalgia – for the small-town melodrama Kevin Williamson built his name on.
• Grit – for the darker, crime-soaked stories we binge now.

Basically, it’s summer TV candy with teeth.

And as someone who lived through the Creek years (and still daydream about Pacey Witter on the regular), watching The Waterfront felt weirdly comforting from the getgo. It’s the grown-up version of the angst I devoured as a teen, just with more contraband shipments and morally gray choices.

I thought I was going to watch The Waterfront because of Jake Weary. I recently gobbled up all seasons of Animal Kingdom and I needed another Weary fix. But I quickly found even more in this to obsess over.

Oh and as a bonus for my fellow elder millennials, you’ll also see Topher Grace in this one.

So yeah, Netflix didn’t just give us a new crime drama. They gave us Dawson’s Creek: Coastal Mafia Edition. And honestly? I’m here for it.

Join the Conversation

Have you watched The Waterfront Netflix yet? Did you also think it was Dawson’s Creek for adults, or am I just permanently stuck in 1998? Drop your take in the comments, especially if you’ve already picked your Havenport “fave.” And if you want even more binge worthy shows and movies, check out my what to watch recommendations.

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